The Duelists of Prophecy
by Legend-of-Mitsuki
Summary: May 2013 – The Yu-Gi-Oh UK National Championship. Many duelists have come to test their skills and fight it out for a chance to qualify for the next stage event – The European Championship. However, seven duelists receive an unexpected visit, foretold in prophecy, which change their plans completely. How will they cope? Only time will tell. (Rating and genre subject to change.)
1. Prologue - The Strangest Dream

**Notes and Acknowledgements**

First of all, thank you for taking the time to come and take a closer look at this story. I've been working on it for quite some time, and I really hope you will enjoy all the hard work and effort which has gone in to producing it.

While most people on this website make use of Author's Notes throughout their works, for this story, I am going to try and avoid it. I often find myself skipping over them; not because I am not interested, but because I am so caught up in the story, I want to keep reading it. I'm going to do my best to make limited use of them, like now, as an introduction. Really, if I could, I would like this bit to be separate, for the sake of neatness. However, Posting Guidelines say I can't so *shrugs* meh.

Before I begin the story, there are many people who have helped me with writing this, and each and everyone deserves a thank you.

Characters and Inspiration  
Courtney Elsworth  
Shaun Nicholls  
Joe Parmenter  
Daniel Pulley  
Matthew Allenby  
Clara Cortsen  
Jack Stockdale  
Nathanial Dennison  
Annabel Smith

Proof-Readers and Editors  
Zoe Fleet  
Danny Beattie  
Shyam Bhardwa

Everyone on here who has inspired and helped me  
Nordic Twin

(Please go and check out their work)

This list will be added to as the project continues.

Just to let you guys know, after I have finished chapter 1 of the story, I will be taking the NaNoWriMo challenge for this story. From the very start of chapter 2, I have to write 50,000 words before the end of November. This will all be first draft work and will need editing before I will publish it here. In theory, that will mean I have 11 or 12 chapters to edit and publish once the month is out. Wish me luck; I have a feeling I will need it.

Also, please note that the full names of any cards played in any duel over the course of the story will be highlighted with _italics_, just to make is easier for people wanting to look them up.

That is all from me as your author. Please turn to the next chapter for the prologue of the story.

Again, thank you so much for reading.

Mitsuki

* * *

**Prologue – The Strangest Dream**

Darkness.

Nothing but darkness to surround.

She stirred. She felt the floor beneath her; solid stone and ice cold. Running her hands across the floor, she could feel something rough and rolling.

'Sand?' she pondered as she sat up and looked around. Across the room the dancing flame of a torch illuminated the wall to which it was affixed. She carefully stood up, unsure of the height of the ceiling, and began to slowly shuffle towards the light. The sand rolled beneath her bare feet as she carefully slid herself closer and closer. She reached out and pried the torch from its fixture and lifted it above her head, in attempt to make sense of where she was.

It was near impossible to make out anything in front of her; the room seemed to be so big, the torch's amber light could not reach the opposite wall. She turned to take a closer look at the wall behind her and what she saw surprised her. It was covered in intricate carvings, which seemed to be aligned vertically. She ran her finger down, looking carefully at each one, as if trying to understand them. She started to follow the wall, reading the carefully carved pictograms as she went. Occasionally, she would stop and gaze at the tall figures which frequented the carvings. Some reached up to the top of the scriptures and all the way to the floor, while others seemed to be indented into the text - everything seemed to have a purpose.

After a while, she noticed the light seemed to be a little stronger; she stopped, turned and was met by another wall, also covered in carvings. She looked around and was in what appeared to be a very long passageway, for she could neither see where she had come from, nor where she was going. Taking a deep breath she raised the torch and continued walking. The carvings she was previously fascinated by no longer seemed to be of interest. The mysterious passageway seemed to go on for ages, but finally, a light was visible at the end. She picked up her pace a little, until she had broken into a run.

When she stopped, she was in a chamber lit by a fiery glow like the one she held. She looked around. It was laid out in a rather regal manner, with pillars lining the central walkway. Each pillar was decorated with the same intricately carved figure, which looked like a guard; they all faced inwards. Their spears leaned in such a way that it looked like they were lit by the torches hanging on the inner face. The walls were also covered in carvings. Still clutching the torch, she slowly walked across the middle of the room, watching the guards as she passed them. She stopped at the bottom of the stone steps and looked up; what she saw caused her to step back. After a moment, she carefully climbed the stairs and put the torch in to an aged metal stand, which was conveniently nearby and gazed in awe at the stone tablet in front of her.

Two men stood either side of a basket of flames; each one had a hand raised towards the light. On the left, a fairly tall man stood; his seemingly short hair was hidden by his large ceremonial hat. He held a long sceptre in his right hand. The man on the right seemed to have a somewhat regal presence about him. He was clearly better dressed than the first man, but that wasn't saying much. His spiky hair was ordained with a headdress and round his neck hung an inverted triangle. Above them, two creatures seemed to float; over the left-hand man, a dragon, and the right, a strangely dressed mage. Surrounding them were more hieroglyphs, as well as some smaller images encased in rectangles. At the top was an inverted triangle, just like the one the man on the right wore.

She stood for what felt like ages, studying the tablet in all its detail. It was exactly as she thought it would be. Suddenly, she sensed a presence behind her and turned to find the room had completely changed.

She was now stood on the top of a tall plinth. Below her was a darkened chamber with two men, one on each side. It was difficult to make out any detail on either of them. They raised their hands towards the flaming basket between them and the room began to shake. Tablets of stone began to rise from the floor in front of them. She stumbled, trying to keep her balance. When the stones clicked in to place, the shaking stopped. As the tablets turned to the centre, a breeze brushed across her face.

She turned.

A door.

She turned back.

The room was as it once was; the pillar guards stood, watching, their spears ablaze. She turned back again. The door was still there. After looking back and forth several times to see if the room would change again (it didn't), she started to walk towards the door.

The door seemed rather out of place. It was large and made of metal, but was surrounded by sandy-coloured, hieroglyph covered stone. She reached out and tried to open it; it took a little persuasion, but eventually, the door opened towards her. She peered inside. It was dark, but another door was opposite the doorway she stood in. She looked around; all she could see was darkness, to the point where the room seemed to have no shape to it. She decided to chance it and stepped through. She turned around to see the door shut with a loud bang. She gulped and turned back to look at the door on the far side of the room. 'I guess the only way is onwards' she thought.

She took a step and found that there appeared to be no floor, but her foot stopped and she felt stable. She took another step and the same thing happened - it was as if she was walking on air. She moved through the darkness, towards the door. She reached out and pulled herself towards it; it opened as she did. There was a blinding flash of light before she found herself somewhere else.

Grey stone; everything was made of it. There were floors and stairs going every which way. None of it made any sense. The walls were littered with more of the same plain metallic doors. She looked around in awe at the number of them. She wandered towards one of them and opened it. The room on the other side was empty; the same plain grey stone. She didn't go in, she just closed the door again. She pondered before going to look at another door. She did the same – open the door and peer in to the empty room, then close it again – for the second and several doors which followed. She was not scared or panicked by any of this; in fact, quite the opposite. Something about this was familiar; she knew it, but what, she couldn't quite figure out.

She continued to wander around through the labyrinth, taking random turns whenever she felt like it. She checked the doors she passed every so often; all the rooms were empty. The fact she was finding nothing was beginning to concern her. But even so, she kept going, she kept searching.

Then she found it; something different to the twisting corridors and stairs which seemed to lead to nowhere. An open space with only one door on the opposite wall. There was only one problem. She was a long way above that open space, and she didn't think jumping would be a good idea. She turned to start walking again, but something made her stop.

On the corner of the walkway she was on, stood a man. His hair was mostly spiked up in long dark points; the tips of each one seemed to shimmer with a magenta sheen. His fringe was blond, and some of it seemed to stick up at peculiar angles. She couldn't help but stare in to the eyes looking back at her; amethyst. Something about him exuded power, though what she didn't know.

He didn't say a word. Instead, he turned and began to walk away. She wasn't sure if she would have been more shocked if he had said something.

"Hey!" She called out; she started after him.

He turned a corner and she followed. She tried to catch up to him, but he was too quick; every time she could see him, he just turned the next corner. The way he walked was unwittingly regal and slow, frustratingly so since, even almost running, she couldn't catch up to him. Upstairs, downstairs, u-turns; his path seemed to make no sense, but he knew where he was heading. She kept going, following him, until, suddenly, he was no longer there.

She looked around. The stone was still as grey. The doors were still made of metal. There were still flights of stairs which made no sense. Then she noticed the wall in front of her; there was just one door, decorated with a golden eye. He had been leading her to the exit!

"Thanks!" She called out, but trailed off, unsure of whether he could hear her. She turned and walked towards the door. As she opened it, she could almost sense him smiling. She took no notice and stepped through the door.

Now she was out in a corridor. Darkness was the only thing which could be seen at either end. Just a little to her left was another door. It was made of a varnished golden wood; light seemed to play off of it, despite the lack of a source. It was set into a wall of purple-coloured stone.

The door behind her closed with a bang, causing her to jump. She stepped back and looked at it. A golden eye stared back at her. The surrounding wall was covered in vine-like patterns in a multitude of colours. It seemed eerie, yet she was not afraid. She turned back to face the other door. It was closed. She took a deep breath before reaching out and knocking.

"Hello," she called out somewhat nervously. There was a small pause.

"Hello?" A voice called back from inside; it sounded young and male.

"C-c-can I come in?" She stammered. There was another pause.

The door then opened, and out peeked a young man, no taller than her (and she was not exactly tall either). His hair was mostly black and spiked with a magenta hue. His blond fringe hung limp around his face. He stared at her with his amethyst eyes for a few moments while she stood still, once again shocked by the appearance of the person in front of her. After a while he opened the door to let her in. She seemed to relax and walked inside.

It was an incredibly light and airy space; it looked just like a young boy's bedroom. It was filled with toys and games, a lot of which were left, played, scattered across the floor. On one side of the room was a fluffy looking bed. It had two chests beneath it, one of which was open and slightly over spilling. There were a few pictures hung on the walls, adding to the impression of innocence. She turned around to see him closing the door behind him. She began to look nervous again.

"So..." He looked a little nervous as well. "Who exactly are you anyway? And how did you get here?"

"Well... eh..." She looked around. It was clear how nervous and confused she was. "My name is Jessica. Jessica Snowfield. And, to be honest, I don't know how I got here."

"That's strange." He sounded concerned. "What do you mean?"

"Well... All I remember is waking up and being in darkness. I managed to find a torch, then found myself wandering through several labyrinths before..." She paused, unsure of whether or not to mention the other man she saw. "Before I found myself here."

"Hmmm..." He looked away from her for a moment. 'How did she end up here?' He wondered. It was not that he didn't believe her story; something still didn't add up quite right. He looked back at her again. She nervously nudged a wooden block with her toe.

"Sorry it's not very tidy in here." He looked slightly embarrassed. "I wasn't expecting any guests; least of all here."

"It's fine" Jessica's friendly smile shattered the previous awkwardness. "I wasn't expecting to end up here either!" It was only a half truth. Originally, she didn't know where she was going to end up, but that changed when she met the other man in the labyrinth.

He laughed. 'She seems nice enough, whoever she is.' He offered out his hand.

"I'm Yugi, by the way. Yugi Muto."

She reached out and shook his hand. The two smiled at each other. Something seemed to click between them in that moment, but that moment didn't last for long.

The room suddenly seemed to go dark and cold. A sense of malevolence seemed to seep under the door.

"What's going on?" Jessica shuddered as she looked towards the now duller door.

"I-" Yugi started, but the room started to shake violently as a satanic laugh pierced the air. Jessica clung to Yugi's arm as he made for the door. He threw it open so they could hide beneath the frame, but what was on the other side caused them to stop and stare.

The corridor Jessica expected to see had vanished; it was as if it had never been there. Instead, a small shelf of smouldering stone was beneath their feet, but they could feel no heat from it. An eerie red glow seemed to cover everything in sight, but that was not very much. The slab of rock they were on extended barely more than two metres in front of them.

But then they looked up and found that the extent of the ledge was the least of their worries.

A giant crystal matrix hung in the space in front of them, glowing crimson. Just the sight of it was enough to send a shiver of terror through even the most courageous of men, and Jessica and Yugi were no exception to the rule. Without thinking, she gripped his hand tightly, but Yugi didn't seem to care. 'What kind of crazy nightmare is this?!' She struggled to comprehend what was happening. As if wandering through several labyrinths weren't bad enough!

Suddenly, there was a loud crash behind them; the door they had come through was no longer there. No sooner had their lack of escape route sank in, the satanic laugh began to fill the air again. It seemed to be coming from the crystal itself. The pair of them froze, their gaze fixed on the crystal, neither knowing what to do.

Suddenly, Jessica sensed something behind her. She turned and looked to see even more people there. She barely had time to register them all before a scream pierced the laughter. She quickly turned back.

Around the crystal, scenes of chaos seemed to float like clouds. Terrified people, fleeing from multi-story buildings as they collapsed around them, but there was too much red smog to make out the time of day. Somewhere else, a burning mushroom cloud formed, obliterating everything for miles around. Above them, another scene materialised; trucks driving along a dirt track road, people's heads hung out of the slats on the sides, gasping for clean air, looking lost and forlorn.

Suddenly, a thick fog began to develop around them. Jessica and Yugi clung to each other as the crystal faded from view. Despite the thickness of the fog, it did not choke them. A scene began to form around them; a city. The skies were dark and smog-filled. The artificial street light gave everything a disconcerting glow. They looked around the empty streets. Nothing was there, and then suddenly came a screech of some kind. She had never heard anything like it before. They looked up at the sky as a dragon, skin like searing lava, flew overhead. It flew low along the road they were on; its wingspan was so great, they couldn't see the tips of its wings as it glided up the street. It launched a fireball at the tower at the end of the block. People's screams filled the air as Jessica and Yugi stood there, watching in horror, able to do nothing. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed another dragon; bright blue and silver, shining like a star.

"We should get out of here." Yugi was clearly worried and not sure what to do. He grabbed Jessica's hand and began to run; she didn't resist. She looked over her shoulder for the other people she vaguely remembered seeing to find them gone. She didn't have time to question it before Yugi had pulled her round a corner, onto another street. The pair of them kept running. Yugi seemed to know where he was going. Jessica didn't question it. They turned several more corners; several more dragons flew overhead: a pale turquoise one, with crystal-covered knees, a black one with glowing red eyes, one which was half back and half white. On and on they ran.

A dragon flew down, stopping the pair in their tracks. It stared at them with its bright blue eyes. They stared back at it, not sure whether staying still of fleeing was the better option. It tilted its head. It looked just like the dragon in the stone tablet she had seen earlier.

Neither party moved, then, suddenly, the dragon launched itself into the air. Jessica and Yugi watched the dragon hover; it still had its eyes on them. It opened its mouth and a ball of white hot energy began to form. They didn't have a chance to move before it reared its head and prepared to strike.

But nothing hit them; before it could, the strangely dressed mage from the tablet darted in front of them. He stopped the blast with his sceptre, the energy split and defused. He turned to the pair, both who were still clearly in shock.

"Run." His tone was deep and clear. Jessica grabbed Yugi's hand this time and began pulling him along. They ran round, past the dragon, and kept going in the same direction as they had been.

"Which way Yugi?" Jessica called to him.

"Next left!"

They dodged round the corner and kept going. Suddenly, Yugi stopped and pulled Jessica down an alleyway. As his back hit the wall there was a loud crash as another bright blaze of energy hit a building, which would have been just in front of them, causing it to come crashing to the ground.

As the light faded, Jessica became aware she was in Yugi's arms. She looked at him as he pondered whether or not it was safe to keep on running. A sense of power seemed to come from him. Then he turned back to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Jessica nodded. She was confused; had he changed or not? She didn't get a chance to finish the train of thought before Yugi grabbed her wrist again.

"Let's go." He pulled her out on to the street, and the pair started dodging round the blocks again.

After a while Yugi began to slow down, as did Jessica. She looked up. He building they were approaching had a sign above the door; 'Kame Game'. It was at that point she realised where she was.

But before she could say anything, the ground began to shake so violently that they were both thrown off balance, and couldn't move. Cracks began to form in the ground in front of them as the ground kept shaking.

Then the ground split. Everything seemed to float for a brief moment. Then everything plummeted down the newly formed hole, including Jessica and Yugi. They screamed and reached out to keep ahold of each other.

But then, they suddenly stopped. They looked down into the dark abyss as the rubble around them kept going. They looked up; the hole they had fallen through was no longer there. Around them was only darkness, yet they could see each other perfectly clearly.

For a while, all they could hear was each other breathing.

"Are you alright?" Yugi reached out and put his free hand on Jessica's shoulder. She nodded.

"You?" She asked, to which he nodded.

Suddenly, whispers started to come from around them. They looked around, trying to spot the source. Small flashes of light, tiny voices in the dark; they came closer and closer.

"Help me!"

"助けて！(Tasukete)"

"Helfen Sie mir!"

"Pomóż mi!"

"Help me!"

"Giúp tôi!"

"Aidez-moi!"

"Hjælp mig!"

"帮帮我吧！(Bāng bāng wǒ ba)"

"Help me!"

Flashes of people from all walks of life appeared in the bursts of light.

A girl with long golden bunches - "助けて!"

A dark haired man with olive skin – "Aiutatemi!"

A teenage girl with bright red hair - "Hjælp mig!"

A blond man with a curled eye-brow - "Aidez-moi!"

A dark haired boy with a lightning bolt scar – "Help me!"

A young girl with long deep purple hair screwed up her face - "助けて!"

A robotic voice let out a deathly cry before a brunette screamed – "Help me!"

The pair of them watched the people's cries. So many people calling for help and there was nothing they could do.

"Only you can save us all."

The voice which said it sounded clear and stern; a voice wizened with age. Jessica and Yugi looked around for the source of it. It was certainly closer than the other voices they had been hearing.

A man materialised in front of them. He was quite tall and dressed in a long white robe. His head was covered by a white turban. When they looked in to his eyes, their instinct was to trust him, though neither of them would have been able to explain why.

"Please," he pleaded. "You are the only ones who can help."

"But what can we do?" Yugi asked what Jessica was thinking.

Before he could respond, the space seemed to darken further and the man started to fade from view.

"I don't have much time." He looked incredibly worried. "Remember what you have seen." Around him, six faces appeared. They were only visible for a moment, but Jessica was sure she had seen each and every one of them before.

As quickly as they had appeared, the robed man and the six faces vanished from sight. Jessica and Yugi were left in the darkness. They clung to each other, neither knowing what to expect next.

Then, opposing gusts of wind tried to wrench them apart. They clung to each other as tight as they could, but even then, that was not enough.

"Don't let go!" Jessica screamed against the blast of air. Yugi fought as hard as he could, as did she. But it didn't work. They lost their grip.

"Yugi!"

"Jessica!"

* * *

Jessica sat up violently, causing the cards covering her lap to shower off her duvet, on to the floor. She held her swimming head, trying to steady herself and make sense of where she was. She looked over at her desk. The electric lamp was still glowing and the clock said five to seven. She sat back against the headboard and looked up at the ceiling.

"Wow…"


	2. Chapter 1 - Jessica Snowfield

**Chapter 1 – Jessica Snowfield**

"Good morning, Sunshine!" A cheery voice sounded from a distance.

Jessica reached the bottom of the stairs and sighed before continuing on her quest for the morning's food. She reached the kitchen to find her older brother, Nathanial sat at the breakfast table, in jeans and a green, geeky T-shirt, shuffling a deck of violet-sleeved cards. He had a slightly tattered playmat rolled out to his left, and on his right was his favourite worn camo mug, which was filled with something steamy. He looked up at her; her silvery eyes looked back at his bright green ones with a distinct look he knew the exact meaning of. He grabbed her kitty mug from the breakfast tray and spooned some sugar into it. As she shuffled over, he added a splash of milk and then filled it with some of the black gold liquid from the posh glass jug, stirring it as he did so. She sat down, blowing her long silvery-blonde fringe out of her face as the mug was placed in front of her. Clasping the cup in both hands, she breathed in the aroma rising from it and seemed to relax a bit before taking a gulp and setting it back down.

"I take it you didn't sleep very well then, Jess." Nathanial put the jug back on the tray and rested his clean shaven chin on his free hand. He looked somewhat concerned. "Don't tell me you were up all night rebuilding your agents."

Jessica gave him a look, he knew her too well. "To be honest, I'm not sure." She yawned and stretched, "I had the strangest dream, which has left me completely out of it."

"Oh?" He paused, leaning forward slightly and sounding a bit too keen for her liking. "What was this dream about?"

"Nosey!" she mockingly accused, poking her tongue out before reaching across the table for her Frosties.

"Oh, come on, Jess," he pleaded.

Jessica pouted for a moment as she poured herself some cereal, pondering what she would get out of it, and what she would lose. She looked back at him. His face was covered in the same curious yet persistent look she always saw when he tried to pry valuable information from her mind. She screwed up her mouth for a moment. She really wanted to tell someone, and no-one at school would appreciate it's awesomeness as much as he would.

In the end, she sighed and smiled; a small part of her giggled as she watched her brother's face light up in excitement.

"Well, where do I start?" But suddenly, her ears pricked up; someone was moving above them. She looked over her shoulder, through the door and towards the stairs, tracking the movement from the sound of footsteps alone.

Seconds later, their mother appeared, dressed in a semi-smart top and trousers, almost ready for work. She made her way across to the table and reached for her floral mug. Nathanial passed her the almost empty jug of coffee. She inspected the contents before emptying the jug of its remaining liquid. She added a little milk before stirring, removing the spoon with a clink and taking a sip.

"Ah…!" she said, leaning against the work surface and shaking out her light shoulder-length hair. "Much better!"

Jessica and Nathanial smiled and went back to consuming their breakfasts. Between mouthfuls, Nathanial kept shuffling his deck, then drawing a hand of five cards, and turning over a sixth from the deck. He would smile or grimace at the playability of the cards he dealt, then shuffle them back in to rinse and repeat. After a while, their mother turned back from the window she was daydreaming through and broke the silence.

"So Nat?" She sat her mug on the work surface beside her, "What do you have today?"

"Ten is admin and I have a lecture on Trade Law until three."

"So you will be able to able to help with the delivery…?" she almost glared at him, as if he had forgotten a promise.

"At about a quarter past," he replied somewhat meekly from his mother's tone. He looked up at her and was greeted with a frustrated look from her emerald-green eyes.

She pursed her lips.

"I've got a group presentation on Monday. It was the only time the rest of the group could do." Despite being a 21 year-old university student, that look from his mum would always cause him to panic. She sighed brusquely.

"I did tell Dad," Nathanial pleaded "It was the only time everyone could meet." He continued to watch his mother's frustrated expression.

There was a long pause.

"What have we got coming, Mummy?" Jessica piped up, trying hard to dissolve the rapidly accumulating tension.

"Quite a lot, sunshine," Her mother took a sip of her rapidly cooling coffee, as did Jessica. "We have all the restocks, plus all the customer orders. Thursday is always a busy day for us. You both know that." She looked over at Nathanial, who shifted somewhat uncomfortably in his wooden chair.

"Did our boxes of Hidden Arsenal 7 come yet?" Jessica grinned excitedly.

"I hope so this time," their Mother sighed. "It was a bit of a nightmare having to explain to everyone why the set was delayed. Did they really have to wait 'til the Monday release? I'm just glad you two are on top of it." She smiled at the pair, and Nathanial seemed finally to relax a bit. She picked up her mug of coffee

"The restocks of Magic and Pokémon should be in too." She said, before downing the rest of her now lukewarm coffee. Nathanial also went to take a gulp of his own, but then stopped; he had remembered something.

"Is it still okay if we borrow the car on Sunday?" he asked. Their mother paused, trying to remember. She quickly did.

"That's fine. Your Dad did tell you that you can't have it for Nationals, right? We have a conference in Manchester that weekend."

"That's fine. Petrol and parking would cost more than the train for Nats, right Jess?" Nathanial turned to his little sister. "Especially since we have to pay for the hotel too."

"Right." Jessica grinned back at him.

"Anyway." Their Mother put her empty mug down on the tray. "I had better get on and finish the admin, so I can help your Dad when the delivery comes in." Nathanial shifted uneasily in his seat again. She moved to leave the kitchen. "Come and let me know when you leave for school, okay, Jessi-girl?" And with that, she left and headed back upstairs.

Jessica turned back to her cereal bowl as the footsteps passed overhead. As soon as the study door slammed shut, she sighed in relief.

"So…." Nathanial slid his deck of cards back in its box before satisfyingly slamming it shut. He seemed almost uncontrollably keen "Where were we?" Jessica screwed up her mouth for a moment.

"Hmmm…" She tried to remember. "Well, first, I was in this dark room, but then I found myself wandering down a long corridor. Before I knew it, I was staring at what looked like the Tablet of Lost Memories."

"What?!" Nathanial had not been expecting that. "You mean the one from Yu-gi-oh?"

"Yes, the one from Yu-gi-oh! How many _other _Tablets of Lost Memories do you know about?"

He gave her a look. "Are you sure you haven't been watching the anime too much?"

She pouted back in an almost embarrassed manner – she wasn't going to bother saying anything because he already knew the answer.

"Anyway, continue."

"So yeah, some strange stuff happened, and then I found myself in Atem's Soul Room. I wandered around aimlessly for a while before finding him. He didn't say anything, but I followed him to the exit. I went through the door into Yugi's Soul Room, and then things got really weird." She looked up at her brother to make sure he was still listening. He was, intently.

"The room started shaking, and this giant red crystal appeared. I kid you not; I don't think I have ever been more scared in a dream in my entire life."

Nathanial nodded and said nothing. He was still keen to hear the rest of the story.

"So, then Yugi and I could see scenes of what can only be described as Chaos floating around it. Then, one of the engulfed us! We found ourselves in Domino City, where we nearly got destroyed by the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

"How'ja manage to get out of that one?"

Jessica grinned. "Dark Magician." Nathanial could not help but giggle childishly, which set Jessica off too.

"So then what happened?"

"We kept running until we were in sight of the game shop, but a huge fissure opened up beneath us! Then I heard what I think was Shadi begging for help before we were ripped apart and I woke up with a start."

Nathanial screwed his face up at the somewhat anticlimactic end to the story. He was about to say something when the sound of bells chiming in the new hour made the pair of them jump.

"Oh heck! Eight o'clock already?!" Jessica stared at the grandfather clock in disbelief. She downed the last of her coffee and rushed to finish getting ready for school.

* * *

"Don't expect me to keep doing this, okay?" Nathanial said as he pulled up in front of the school. Jessica grabbed her bag and folder from the foot well.

"You were the one who made me late this morning!" Jessica said, feigning outrage. "Besides, this is the first time this year!"

"Yeah, Yeah, whatever," Nathanial said mockingly. "Anyway, have fun at school!"

"I'll do my best." Jessica smiled and got out of the car, leaving her brother behind as they both went towards their own educations.

The school buildings varied between old and majestic, and blocky and dated. They all surrounded a tarmacked courtyard; the only feature it had were the white, painted numbers which were used for fire assembly. The building where her registration group was based was in the middle of the school grounds. Jessica meandered her way through the crowds of people, her bag over her shoulder, and her folder clutched across her chest in a somewhat confident manner, until she reached the doors to one of the newer block-like buildings and went inside.

After darting through the people stood chatting in the entrance hall, Jessica made her way into the Sixth Form Common Room. It was a fairly modern and large space, with classrooms and offices jutting out at various points, eating into the space. Dotted around the room were lots of large, plush chairs, all covered in the same coarse royal blue fabric, all of them full of students casually catching up on the morning's gossip with their friends. In one corner, there were about thirty computers, all laid out on desks in neat rows. A few keen students had already started working at them; others were just making use of the extra seats, talking to others about whatever they fancied.

Jessica picked her way through the scattered chairs, towards the open wooden door on the far side of the room. She slipped through the door to find people sat on desks and seats, creating conversation. As the door opened, someone had looked up.

"Hey Jessi!" A dark haired girl, dressed in jeans and a tunic top, called across the room.

On hearing her name, Jessica looked over to see her best friend, Iris, waving frantically from the back of the room. Jessi slid across the wall, so as not to disturb any other conversations, to reach Iris and give her a morning hug.

"What's wrong with you this morning?" Iris asked, as Jessi nuzzled up and sighed sleepily.

"I slept so badly last night, I just feel dead." Jessi didn't move. Her voice was full of exhaustion; she looked as if she could fall asleep right where she was.

Iris pulled out a chair and Jessi collapsed into it with a small thump. She looked at Iris and the group of friends she had been talking to through droopy eyes.

"Coffee didn't cut it, huh?" Iris sounded almost not surprised. Jessi shook her head. Iris screwed up her mouth, trying to find a reason her best friend would be so drained, even after coffee.

Before a discussion had the chance to begin, the bell rang for the start of the day. The groups of students all slowly began to pick up their belongings and get moving to where they needed to be, even if it was just the next seat along. Jessi and Iris had to head upstairs to their registration room; one of the home economics kitchens. They got up, leaving the chairs as neatly as they had found them, and headed back into the Sixth Form Common Room. They made their way through the moving crowds until something caused Jessica to trip, nearly dropping her belongings and falling into Iris. She turned and was met by a fierce female face she would rather not have to deal with at this sort of time.

"Watch where you're walking, will you?!" she leered at Jessica. "I've got all my inks for art in my bag, and I don't want all my stuff ruined by the likes of you!"

Jessica growled slightly, but before she could retaliate, Iris cut in.

"It takes two to tango Annabel." Other students looked up on hearing the two girls. Annabel narrowed her eyes before turning away from Iris and Jessica.

"Not worth it," she said in such a sickly sweet tone it made Iris' blood boil. Jessica couldn't help but sigh as Annabel flicked her maroon coloured hair over her shoulder in a diva-like fashion and sauntered away.

"Come on" Jessi placed her hand on Iris' shaking shoulder. "She is right. It's not worth the agro."

Iris' shoulders seemed to relax a bit, but her expressions showed it was not over. Jessi lead her onward towards their registration room.

The large room had very limited desk space, due to its need for plenty of kitchen space. Around the room there were several horse-shoes of kitchen cupboards, each complete with two ovens, a sink and a fridge freezer. The units were painted bright blue and looked a little worn and dated. Each one had a number on it, so the space was fairly shared amongst the students. The outside wall was lined with windows, stretching to the ceiling from the top of the splash-backs. The wall of glass followed around into the other kitchen round the corner. The department was frequently like an oven during the summer; however, the spring air was pleasantly cool. In the centre of each horse-shoe was a low round table, each surrounded by eight low blue stalls. Students had already begun to take their seats. Jessi and Iris had just reached their seats as the bell went again, signalling the start of the day.

Moments later their registration tutor, Mrs Hereford, appeared through the door, clutching her laptop and planner across her chest. She was a wizened, motherly woman, who always dressed in bright colours. Her bright red hair was cut short, perfectly brushed and sprayed in to shape. Her bright pink apron was dull through washes and flour, bus she still wore it every day without fail. She quickly set up her laptop and surveyed the room, waiting for the machine to get where she needed it to be.

"Where are Ross and Jacob?" she said with an almost knowing sigh. No sooner has the words left her mouth, the sound of two sets of footsteps came running up the stairs. Jessi watched through the doorway as the two boys appeared through the door at the far end of the corridor. They paused just outside the door and tried to catch their breath before entering the room. Mrs Hereford saw them out of the corner of her eye.

"There they are." She said in a tone to almost embarrass them.

"Sorry Miss," said Jacob. "Car issues."

"I take it you got it to start again." Mrs Hereford sound worried.

"Yeah." Jacob said as he and Ross went to set down in the empty seats on Jessi and Iris' table. "My brother borrowed the car last night and left the headlights on all night. So it drained the battery. We had to get the neighbours to help jump start the car."

"That was lucky." Mrs Hereford gave the boys one of her trademark motherly smiles. The previous tension over tardiness promptly disappeared. She turned back to her laptop and began to call the register. When she was done, the student's chatter resumed.

"Where was your brother last night?" Iris asked, as if she should know.

"He was at Crystal Cavern. It was Magic last night, silly." Jacob said. Iris pouted, feeling a bit stupid for forgetting.

"I missed you last night!" Jessi gave Jacob an almost puppy eyed look.

"Sorry," he said. "I've got coursework due for last lesson."

"Did you manage to get it done?"

He nodded.

"So you are coming tonight?"

"Of course."

Jessi grinned and Iris sighed.

"Most importantly," said Ross "Did HA07 arrive?" Jessi's grin widened as she nodded as she nodded excitedly.

"Awesome!" Both boys mimicked her excitement, as did Iris.

"Anyway," Iris said after a moment. "What's the plan for this weekend?"

"Well, Saturday is mostly homework, and I'm judging in Birmingham on Sunday." Jessi paused for a moment. "Are you guys coming?" Jacob and Ross nodded before the three of them turned to Iris.

"I don't have a lift. My parents have both cars" Iris did not sound happy.

"Well, I can talk to Nat. We'll be leaving really early though, and coming back late."

Iris shrugged. "A lift is a lift. That would be great."

"Cool. Sort it later?"

"Sure"

Moments later the school bell sounded. The day's trials had begun.

* * *

"So how come it got delayed anyway?" asked a well built, long haired customer as he handed over ten booster packs of cards.

"There were some printing issues over in America. They saw it fairer to hold up everyone's release." Jessica said as she scanned the items into the till. "That is thirty two pounds please including entry. Have you got your loyalty card on you?"

They guy handed over a small card, before inserting his debit card in to the PIN machine. As he entered his number Jessi stamped the card.

"Cheers!" He said, once payment was complete. He headed upstairs and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"You can go up now, if you want." Jessi's Dad's voice came from the far side of the work station.

"Thanks Dad!" Jessi jumped down from the stall, grabbed her bag and headed upstairs.

Upstairs was quite plain. The walls were painted magnolia, and the floor was tiled with the same black stone as was downstairs. There were a few posters dotted around as well as many blutack marks. There were tables, enough to seat about fifty people, lined up semi-neatly in two rows; chairs lined three sides of them while the fourth side, closest to the right hand wall, had a built in bench for people to sit on.

Around the room, people sat in small groups. Cards, binders, playmats and bags were strewn across nearly every available surface as they talked and played various card games. Jessi looked around for her brother. He was sat in the back corner, on one of the benches, with a group of five guys, plus Iris. Jessi wandered over.

"Hey guys!" She called out excitedly.

"Hey Sunshine!" Nat offered out an arm for a hug, which Jessi gladly accepted.

"Can we open them now?" Iris sounded like she was getting impatient.

"Yes, we can." Nat said, as the guys budged over to allow Jessi to sit down. Nat promptly handed her a wrapped box from the two he had. Everyone else sat with their booster packs they had just bought, ready and waiting to rip them open and reveal the prize inside. Jessi and Nat carefully removed the Konami printed wrapping and opened their boxes. They gazed for a moment at the shiny dragon printed wrappers.

"Ready…" Nat breathed as everyone readied their first pack.

"Go!" Iris called; she couldn't wait any longer. There was a mad scramble and lots of crunching of plastic foil as the shiny cards were removed from their packaging.

"Cool! Sophia!" Jessi's eyes lit up.

"Tin Archduke." Ross seemed unimpressed.

"Awesome! M7!" Nat admired the shiny secret rare card he had just pulled.

"Tin Goldfish." Jacob seemed pleasantly surprised.

"That's a good super." Jessi said, as she unwrapped her next pack. "Sweet! Lavalval Chain!"

"Awesome." Nat stopped to admire it as Jessi proceeded to her next pack.

"Evilswarm Bahamut…"Iris pondered, wondering if the card was any good.

The excitement, admiration and occasional disappointment continued until all the packs were open. The centre of the table was now home to a small mountain of wrappings. In the front of each person were piles of cards, glittering under the shop's artificial light.

"Happy with your pulls?" Jessi turned to her brother.

"Yeah. I wanted a Daigusto Emeral as well, but never mind. I can trade for one." He smiled at her. "So how about we test out the new cards?"

"You mean you test out your new cards." Jessi gave him a knowing look and pulled out her deck box.

* * *

At the start of the day, the hall had been packed with duelists, all eager to have their shot at qualifying for the European Championships; one step closer to worlds. Each one carried a deck they had put countless hours in to hunting down the cards they needed, perfecting their strategies and covering their weaknesses with their side-decked cards.

Now, the day was nearing its end. Many battles had been won and lost. Most were drained from concentrating so hard all day. The judges especially so, since the four of them had spent most of the day on their feet, making sure every player kept to the rules and the results of every match was recorded correctly.

The clock was ticking down the minutes to the end of the final round. Most matches had finished by this point. Jessica wondered around the bottom tables, collecting and confirming match results and making rulings where needed. With the last few slips in hand, she headed over to the judges' table. Drake, the Tournament Organiser and the day's score keeper, was sat there, laptop in front of him, dreads across his face, busily entering the scores.

"How many matches left?" Jessi asked as cheerily as she could, given how hard she had been working.

"One second..." Drake said, as he quickly entered the results he had just been given. "Three. One of them is your brother."

"Oh?" Jessi looked up at the clock. Seven minutes left on the round. She screwed up her mouth. "Who's he against?"

After consulting his screen, Drake said "Scarlett Jones."

Across the other side of the room, Nat was preparing for his final game.

"Good luck," he said to the shorthaired red-head sat opposite him. She smiled back at him as she cut his deck.

"You too," she replied, her voice a natural mix of determination and nerves. It was only to be expected; neither of them had lost a match that day. Going in to the match's third game, everything was still to play for.

"You ready, Scarlett?" He said, placing her deck in her deck zone.

"You bet'cha!" she said, returning the favour. "Are you?"

"Of course." Nat took the top five cards from his deck and placed them face down on his playmat, then motioned to her deck. "Your choice."

Scarlett gave him a look. 'Does it even need saying?' she thought. She looked at the clock. 'I need to make this quick.'

"First." She said. She drew the five cards for her hand. Nat picked up his cards. Their eyes met for a brief moment. Scarlet drew her sixth card. The duel had begun.

Turn 1

Scarlett 8000 Nathanial 8000

Scarlett eyed her hand of shiny cards, carefully planning out her turn. How should she start: bold or conservative? She knew she had precious little time. She had to make a move. She pursed her lips, and looked at Nat. 'What might he have in his hand?' She pondered. '_Effect Veiler_ is about the only card that could interrupt my play this turn. Establishing presence…' she eyed up the most sparkly card in her hand, the _High Priestess of Prophecy_. '… is something I need to do now.' She looked at the clock again. Time was slowly ticking away.

"_Spellbook of Secrets_." Scarlett announced. She placed the card on the field, then looked up at Nat. He motioned her to proceed. She began filing through her deck, occasionally pondering for a few moments and then checking her hand. After a while, she dropped a sparkly card on top of the one she had just played; _Spellbook of the Master_.

Scarlett looked at him again. Nat nodded. She shuffled her deck before picking up the card and adding it to her hand.

"Spellbook Magician." She summoned the childish looking magician: _Spellbook Magician of Prophecy_. She looked up at Nat to get confirmation that the move was okay. He looked at his hand; it was so nearly good it was frustrating. He sat there for a moment, bluffing that he might have a response.

"Sure."

"Effect?" She motioned to her deck.

"Sure."

Again, Scarlett flicked through her deck, and dropped a different sparkly card: _The Grand Spellbook Tower_. Nathanial watched the card glitter in the light. 'This all seems so elementary' he thought as he watched her shuffle her deck again.

"Play Tower." She moved the card over to her field spell zone. Then she began to contemplate her hand again. She very quickly made her choice.

"_Spellbook of the Master_. Reveal Eternity" She showed him the card then swiftly returned it to her hand. Nathanial nodded and Scarlett began to file through her deck again.

"_Spellbook of Fate_." She dropped the card on to her mat before shuffling her deck and offering it to Nat to cut. He did as she picked up the searched card. Then she picked another two cards out from her hand and revealed them to Nat: Spellbooks of Fate, Wisdom and Eternity.

"Priestess."

Nathanial shifted somewhat uncomfortably in his seat. 'High Priestess,' he thought 'I was hoping that wouldn't be out first turn.' He glanced over his hand again. 'I should be able to do this.' He took a deep breath.

"Sure."

Scarlett returned the green spell cards to her hand. She flicked the cards between her hands, appearing to be lost in thought. Nathanial gripped the edge of his seat with his free hand. He wasn't sure he could do it; it all rode on his draw. He silently prayed that his opponent could not feel the jitters running through his leg. Scarlett bit her lip.

She set three cards on her back row, and passed the turn to Nat.

Turn 2

Scarlett 8000 Nathanial 8000

He drew.

"Normal summon _Cardcar D_" Nathanial looked up as Scarlett. She thumbed the card on her right-hand side before nodding.

"Set one." He placed one of the spell cards in his hand face down, before motioning to the sparkly monster card in the centre of his field. "Effect." He slid it in to his graveyard. Scarlett nodded and Nat drew two cards.

"Your move."

Turn 3

Scarlett 8000 Nathanial 8000

Scarlett pouted as she drew. 'Should I really have allowed that to go through?' she pondered, and then shrugged.

"Tower effect." She declared.

"MST" Nathanial reviled the spell card he had set on his turn: _Mystical Space Typhoon_. He then pointed to the field spell and Scarlett tutted.

'Should have known.' She thought.

"Eternity." She placed the silver named _Spellbook of Eternity_ in the gap next to her set cards. "Target Secrets."

Nathanial nodded. Scarlett picked it up and played it immediately, filing through her deck for _Spellbook of Life_.

"Proceed to battle phase."

Nathanial nodded.

"Attack five hundred." She said, pointing to the blue clothed magician.

"Sure." Nathanial noted down the change in life points. "Drop _Tragoedia_."

Once again, Scarlett pouted at the obstruction in her path to victory.

"Cards in hand?" She asked shortly.

"Five." Nathanial broke the cards up and tapped them together in such a way the count was easy to see.

'Darn it.' She thought. 'Five times six hundred is three thousand. Priestess isn't strong enough.' She bit her lip.

"Set one and pass to you."

Turn 4

Scarlett 8000 Nathanial 7500

Nathanial took a deep breath and drew his card. He looked at it, then looked across at Scarlett.

'Oh f***.' She thought. 'What has he drawn? What has he drawn? What has he drawn?' She tried to keep calm, despite the sheer confidence now on her opponent's face.

"_Heavy Storm_."

There was a pause.

'S***.' She thought. She flicked through her back row, trying to work out if it was worth chaining anything to the devastating spell.

She flipped over two spells.

"Chain Wisdom." She pointed to High Priestess. "Spells. Chain Fate. Banish two." She removed _Spellbook of Secrets_ and _Spellbook of the Master_ from her graveyard.

"Sure."

"Fate select Magician." She flipped the card into face down defence, and then sent all the other cards on her back row to the graveyard.

'A second Fate and a _Fiendish Chain_.' He giggled a little. "That was lucky."

Scarlett was not amused.

Nathanial moved _Heavy Storm_ to his graveyard.

"Normal summon Eset." He placed the purple dragon on the field; _Hieratic Dragon of Eset_.

Scarlett pouted in an un-amused fashion.

"Tribute for Nebthet." He replaced the purple dragon with a darker purple one. "Eset effect."

Scarlett could do nothing to stop him. Three minutes, and much deck searching and special summoning later, a trio of powerful monsters were staring down her life points. His loops had cleared her field; she was defenceless.

"Gaia Dragon attack."

5400

"Red-Eyes attack."

2600

"M7 attack for game." Nathanial declared and Scarlett's life points hit zero.

Scarlett's face echoed her disappointment. A one-turn-kill; she should not have lost to that.

Nathanial offered his hand.

"Good game?"

For a moment, she just looked at it. Then she sighed and accepted it.

"Good game." She said, trying her best to hide her disappointment.

They signed the match slip and called for a judge. It was Jessi who responded to the call.

"So, to confirm, Nathanial won?" Both players nodded in response.

Jessi signed the match slip as Drake's voice echoed across the room.

"Time on the round! Five additional turns."


End file.
